Celebrate

A Simple Birthday Celebration

69 Comments

We are not a fancy family. Our celebrations are usually held at home, and they feature favorite foods of the people being honored. So it was with our eldest daughter Dee’s birthday gathering on Friday.

Dee wanted biscuits, and I was particularly pleased with the way they came out. Once upon a time, I made them regularly, but now that we are on a low-carb diet, they are an occasional treat. I was glad I hadn’t lost my touch, which can easily happen when you don’t bake often.

My old tattered recipe gave Dee a giggle. It is certainly a minimalist recipe.

I also made a potato and cheddar soup, which everyone loves. Alas, I forget to take a picture of it. The soup is served with tortellini and steamed broccoli.

But I did remember to take a picture of the cake, also made by me.

Although we like to keep things simple, we do like a pretty table, with flowers as the centerpiece.

Our daughter Shannon, her husband Mike, and their dogs Holly and Somara came for the celebration, and what a jolly time we had. The day was warm enough for drinks and appetizers on the patio in the backyard, where the dogs could stretch their legs. We talked about all the things we love to talk about—books, movies, television shows, and, yes, politics. (Fortunately, we are all on the same page when it comes to politics.)

The day was particularly golden.

Both up

and down.

In Maine, October is such a beautiful month for a birthday.

And how lovely it was to have everyone around the table once again.

Happy birthday, Dee!

69 thoughts on “A Simple Birthday Celebration”

  2. Wow. I love how you celebrate as it is my style too. Your pictures are simply perfect. I especially liked the cake! Lucky you to all be on the same page politically! Blessings!

    1. Yay for simple but good! Yes, we are lucky to be on the same page politically. We would love each other no matter what, but it does made gatherings easier.

    1. As a matter of fact we have. We’re a sci-fi/ fantasy family, and we have really been loving “Andor,” on Disney+. The show is so outstandingly good–created by Tony Gilroy—that even folks who don’t enjoy science fiction will enjoy it. The second show is “The Peripheral,” on Amazon. Again, so good that even non-sci-fi folks should give it a try.

  12. Looks like a lovely party! I especially enjoyed your biscuit recipe! I admire those who use “minimalist” recipes, as I need ALL the info in order to succeed. I thought of you the other day as a blogger, (whose name I have forgotten in a senior moment) posted a pic of a “book fairy” as a Halloween costume. The fairy wings were open books on her shoulders with the pages moving freely. 😉

    1. Yes, yes! Both daughters, actually. About a year ago, our youngest moved from North Carolina to Massachusetts. Bliss to have her within an easy driving distance.

  15. There’s nothing like a good biscuit; a birthday biscuit is even better! One of my treasures is a set of tea towels my grandmother embroidered with some of her best recipes — including one with her biscuit recipe. It wasn’t much different from yours.

    1. Oh, fun! It’s kind of an old-timey recipe. I have made biscuits so many times that I don’t need instructions for technique. It might be fun to have the recipe printed on a tea towel to give for Christmas presents. I’ll look into it. Thanks for the idea.

  16. What a lovely and loving birthday celebration. I am sitting in my home alone this Halloween for the first time in all my 65 years and thought to check your blog. I am glad I did. Your life in Maine is such a sweet comfort. ♥

  20. It certainly seemed like a golden day for Dee’s birthday. Having everyone sitting around the table together discussing all topics, eating your favourite foods, it just doesn’t get any better. Happy birthday Dee!
    PS I found your first book, “Maya and the Book of Everything” on Booktopia, an Australian online bookshop. I am going to buy it, (and no doubt other books) this week. Looking forward to keeping it for my granddaughter.

    1. Yes, a golden day. Doesn’t get any better. Thank you, thank you for your interest in Maya. Thrilled to read my book is available through Booktopia. (What a great name!) Happy reading!

  21. That sounds a wonderful celebration. The nice thing about celebrating at home is that you get to eat exactly what you want made just the way you like it. Here in the UK we call your ‘biscuits’ ‘scones’ and lots of people find them tricky to bake but yours came out really well. Our family tradition is to have chocolate cake for celebrations too so you can cater for one of our ‘dos’ any time 😉 Drinks outside are a memory here – it has been wet, cool and windy for the last couple of weeks.

    1. Thank you, thank you! Not surprised to read there are similarities in the ways we celebrate special days. Yes, our biscuits are very much like your scones, but they are seldom sweet. Our biscuits are made to go with meals. Sorry it’s been so wet and cool. Our October has been glorious, one of the best in my memory.

  22. Happy belated birthday to Dee! October is a pretty month here, too. I’m glad your family could gather to enjoy the celebration (that cake looks yummy!)

  24. Laurie , this is a wonderful post. I can just picture you all there together talking and eating and having fun. Those are my favorite gatherings, as well. There’s no fancy time that can compare to an evening around the table with your grown kids.

  25. Happy Birthday to Dee. It looks like you had a beautiful day and oh, that biscuit… We’re low-carbers too, so any kind of bready treat like that is mouth-watering. And I’m glad there was cake!

    1. Many thanks! Yes, bread becomes such a treat when you are on a low-carb regimen. Worth it from a healthy perspective, but oh the longing for bread. And pasta. 😉

      1. I don’t miss pasta much,Laurie, but I used to make my own bread and we’d gobble it down right out of the oven, still warm and smeared with butter. That I miss!

  26. I’m sending wishes for a very happy birthday to Dee from a rainy Lancashire. It’s one of the best blessings from nature and nurture to be able to be happy with the simple things. (Though I’d be more likely to describe your home-cooked spread as delicious than simple.) The ferns are striking when they lose their colour. I’ve been intrigued to see some half and half in the woods.

  27. What a wonderful celebration and love that photo of the recipe!!🙂 I’m trying to keep very positive about next Tuesday, but the news coverage tends to make me very nervous. Perfect menu and fall day and that cake looks delicious! Happy Birthday, Dee!🙂

  28. All sounds great (except maybe the steamed broccoli, which I regard as an evil weed!) That chocolate cake looks heavenly. Good to know you’re all on the same political page, it definitely avoids awkwardness and embarrassing gaps in the conversation.

    1. I’m not a huge broccoli fan either, but other family members love it. I serve the broccoli and the tortellini on the side so that folks can put as little or as much as they want ino the soup.

  29. What a beautiful, poetic account of your celebration of Dee. The rhythms of your prose match the simplicity — and richness! — of your preparations. Happy birthday to Dee, and congratulations to you too, Laurie, on the anniversary of becoming a mother.

      1. I agree (and motherhood continues!). When I became a mother, I finally appreciated the parties for “Baby’s First Birthday.” They are well-earned celebrations of the PARENTS’ first difficult, happy year!

  30. I just want to dive into the cake. The biscuit looks really yummy, too. I like simple, small celebrations. It’s how we celebrate birthdays, too.

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  32. Wonderful to be able to celebrate together, no matter how simply. I had a quite deluxe version at a restaurant yesterday but it was the friends who were there that mattered.

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